Scientists film family of orcas using unmanned 'hexacopter'

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 17 (UPI) —

In partnership with marine biologists from the Vancouver Aquarium, scientists with NOAA Fisheries were able to capture remarkable bird’s-eye video of a pod of killer whales — the first time a drone has been used to document orcas in the wild.

The photos and videos were taken using a camera strapped to a custom-built hexacopter named Moblyare. The footage features of a family group of Northern Resident killer whales of British Columbia swimming in the brisk turquoise waters off the coast of Canada. The filmed group included a two-year-old calf and a young-of-the-year.

The purpose of the project wasn’t simply to capture cute closeups, but to better understand a population that’s considered endangered. Scientists wanted to know if these regional orcas are getting enough to eat. Some are, some aren’t.

During their observations, researchers found two members of the pod to be malnourished. Both were missing by the end of the project, presumed dead. Interestingly, scientists found an uptick in vocalizations from the brother of one of those whales before and after his disappearance.

"It’s interesting whether those calls were related to his brother, whether he was looking for him or whether he was telling others he was gone. We don’t know," NOAA biologist John Durban said during an interview on the NOAA Fisheries podcast On The Line. "You know, they do family better than we do. They have to notice the absence of an animal that’s swum with them their whole life, and I think more than notice it, I think it can have a big effect on them."

But others seemed to be healthy and happy, and one of the mothers was found to be pregnant, a good sign. Moving forward, scientists hope additional drone observations can help them keep a more detailed watch on the population’s well-being — as opposed to only relying on a crudely calculated summer census to track births and deaths.

"Mortality is a pretty coarse measure of how well the population is doing because the problem, if there is one, has already occurred," Durban said in a press release. The hexacopter, on the other hand, "can give us a more sensitive measure that we might be able to respond to before whales die."